Controversial ‘hate flyer’ comes to Kamloops
CHRISTIAN ANTI-GAY, ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST BILL WHATCOTT IN TOWN?
KAMLOOPS – The hate speech versus free speech debate has landed literally on the doorsteps of Kamloops.
Last Saturday, Ben Gayfer says he was at the Northland Apartment complex on Nicola Street when a one-page pamphlet was slipped under the door.
The pamphlet, signed by Christian anti-gay activist Bill Whatcott, alleges the CBC delivers biased news in its coverage of homosexuals and abortion. Included on the pamphlet are graphic photos of an aborted fetus and an anus covered in warts with the author claiming unattributed "facts" about them. Gayfer says after searching the building, he found the man distributing the flyers but couldn’t confirm who he was. Gayfer says he's convinced the man he saw was Whatcott after looking him up online.
“He just deflected (my questions) and kept doing his thing like he had the right to do it – even though he had no right to be in the building at all,” he says.
Safe Spaces, a gay and lesbian support group in Kamloops, said the pamphlet is a "hate flyer."
“When I first saw the flyer, my main concern was what would happen if a child saw it? A rectum with anal warts is a very graphic photo that no child needs to see,” said spokesperson Krista Gallant. “I think that as a Canadian society we have moved on to a place of acceptance of differences…. Youth need to know that when people send out hateful things like that flyer, they can rise above those who are filled with hate, because love is more powerful than hate.”
Whatcott is known for his regular proselytizing through pamphlets. In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled some of the anti-gay flyers Whatcott distributed throughout Saskatchewan fell within the definition of hate-speech. Two months ago, Whatcott won a defamation suit against the CBC after a judge agreed the media coverage made his views more extreme than explained in his pamphlet.
To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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2 responses
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This article refers to this pamphlet as a “hate flyer” without explaining what it could be construed as inciting hate, presumably towards gays and lesbians and so I wonder on what basis that allegation is made.In previous statements and postings, Bill Whatcott has publicly expressed love towards gays and lesbians despite his position that homosexual acts are sinful and unhealthy. Given that, I have to wonder whether he has somehow changed his position and is now advocating hatred or whether there is something in that pamphlet which could be considered as inciting hatred towards any particular group.I also wonder why the word “facts” is in quotation marks, which seems to suggest these alleged facts are incorrect. If there are elements in the flyer which are false, it would seem the responsible thing to do would be to mention them and indicate why they are false. If there is no evidence to support the idea that the facts are false, then I suggest that putting the word “facts” in quotation marks is little more than casting aspersions on Mr. Whatcott and his pamphlet and is unworthy of a respected news source.An allegation of a bias at the CBC with regards to coverage of issues around homosexuality. is certainly understandable – if indeed Mr. Whatcott has made such an allegation – given that the CBC is, after all, a supporter of Gay Pride parades. This is not an issue on which the CBC is objective. The organization is a proud supporter of gay and lesbian rights.Graphic photographs on a pamphlet may or may not indicate bad taste but they do not, in and of themselves, constitute hate literature. And if we were to stop everyone who demonstrates bad taste, well, I dare say much of what passes for cultural expression in our society would come to a screeching halt. Several of the TV shows on the air regularly feature surgeons with their arms elbow-deep in people’s guts or police and criminals blowing off people’s body parts with guns and other devices.I’m not saying that makes doing this right. I’m just pointing out that we have to be intellectually honest and apply the same standard to everyone.Free speech can only exist when we are ready to listen to everyone’s views, even those with which we disagree vehemently.
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so what makes this a “Hate Flyer”…the fact that the man has his own thoughts based on true Law, based on religious beliefs…so much for freedom of thought…so you can “think” its ok to stick your dick up your buddies ass and teach it to 7 year olds in public schools, but anyone who doen’t agree with this insanity “Hates”?
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